Information theoretic measures for MFR tracking control

Abstract

Multi-function radar resource management addresses how to unlock the potential of electronically steered arrays by allocating and configuring radar resource, for a variety of tasks, in a way which maximises performance. To improve the quality of the allocation novel approaches are called upon, which inevitably require an accurate measure of effectiveness. Information theory shows potential for filling this role by providing a measure independent of task type. As such this paper investigates the use of information theory to control the dedicated track function using a narrow beam. Allocations using the information theoretic measures are compared with a standard approach, in terms of update rate, information rate, root mean squared error and track loss.